This invention relates to identification bracelets or bands which are widely used in a variety of applications including patient identification, crowd control, inanimate object identification, and the like.
The invention will be described hereinbelow as utilized in a crowd control context, but it will be understood that it can be used in other applications where ease of installation, speed of imparting information to the bracelet, and elimination of existing waste disposal problems incident to the utilization of available bracelets are desirable.
Prior art bracelets are utilized in crowd control contexts such as amusement parks, ski lifts, and rock concerts. They are applied to the wrists of the persons visiting the amusement park, utilizing the ski lift, or attending the concert in order to identify the customer and prevent various abuses which arise where large numbers of individuals congregate.
Various types of prior art bracelets have been utilized in the above-mentioned situations, including bracelets fabricated from plastic sheet materials such as vinyl and various forms of plastic reinforced papers wherein the cellulosic content of the papers is bonded and strengthened by the plastic binder. Fasteners for these bracelets include plastic snap type fasteners, metallic rivet type fasteners, and adhesive fasteners.
All of the prior art bracelets are supplied in cartons and the adhesive bracelets incorporate adhesive isolation means which must be discarded at the point of application of the bracelet to an individual.
Moreover, where thousands of visitors are accommodated every day at amusement parks or ski lifts, correspondingly large inventories of the identification bracelets must be maintained and large quantities of cartons of such bracelets must be provided at the ticket booth.
In some applications, prior art bracelets are provided with information receiving surfaces and the cashier must, where the information is visually cognizable, type the requisite information on the receiving surface. This entails the removal of the bracelet from its carton, the insertion of the bracelet in the information printer and the subsequent imparting of the information to the surface. After the information imparting step is completed, the bracelet is removed from the printer and installed upon the wrist of the wearer.
Some prior art bracelets include electronic information receptor means such as magnetic strips or the like and the information is imparted to the magnetic strip by corresponding electronic information conveyors. However, the same basic sequence of time consuming steps must be followed as in the case of the visually cognizable information.
Bar coding of bracelets is another method of conveying information regarding the individual and the extent of his purchases. For instance, the bracelet for a concert can incorporate visually perceptible information regarding seat assignments; for amusement parks, the number of rides to which the individual is entitled; and, for ski lifts, the numbers of lifts and the numbers of rides to which the individual is entitled. Additional or alternative information regarding the extension of credit or spending limit available to an individual may be incorporated in the information imparted to the bracelet.
Where thousands of people are entering a facility, it is obvious that the inventory, storage, and bracelet preparation and installation upon a wearer are expensive and time consuming aspects of present bracelet usage. Because of the packaging and discarded components of conventional bracelets, there is a significant accumulation of scrap and waste materials at the point of application of such bracelets.
It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide an apparatus for manufacturing an identification bracelet at the point of application to the potential wearer of the bracelet. Such an apparatus eliminates the necessity for maintaining bracelet inventories and the waste disposal problems entailed by the conventional cartons of bracelets and the additional materials which must be discarded during bracelet application.
Another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus of the aforementioned character which includes a source of material in strip form from which a bracelet can be manufactured and means for translating said strip through the apparatus. An associate object of the invention is the provision of information imparting means to a surface of said strip or into a magnetic strip or RF (radio frequency) chip or other electronic information storage means previously imprinted or installed upon said strip. Such information can include individual identification and the various ramifications of data necessary for the particular application for which the bracelet manufactured by the apparatus is utilized.
Another object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus of the aforementioned character which includes information imparting means which is capable of supplying information to the bracelet during the manufacturing process of the bracelet and which can be visually cognizable, electronic or bar code stored information.
An additional object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus of the aforementioned character wherein the fastener means utilized to secure the bracelet in operative relationship with the wrist of an individual is installed on the bracelet during the manufacturing process.
An associated object of my invention is the utilization of adhesive fastening means and the incorporation in the apparatus of conveyor means for conveying said adhesive fastening means into contiguity and subsequent transfer to a surface of the bracelet during its translation through the aforesaid apparatus.
An additional object of my invention is the provision of severance means in said apparatus whereby, when all of the bracelet manufacture has been completed, the bracelet is issued from the apparatus and cut by said severance means to a predetermined length. Instead of severance means, perforators can be utilized which form perforations in the strip to facilitate the severance of a bracelet from said strip.
A particular object of the invention is the manufacture of a bracelet incorporating adhesive fastening means which is issued from the aforesaid apparatus and is ready for immediate application to the wrist of a wearer without the necessity for discarding the conventional adhesive isolation means utilized in adhesive identification bracelets to prevent premature adherence of the adhesive fastening means to an adjacent surface.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of manufacturing an identification bracelet capable of immediate use and application to the wrist of the wearer which includes the steps of providing a continuous strip of bracelet material and translating said strip to an information imparting means. Associated steps include the deposition of information on a surface of said bracelet by said information imparting means and the transfer to a surface of said bracelet of fastening means intended to maintain the bracelet in operative relationship with the wrist of a wearer.
The final step of the method includes the severance of the bracelet in a length sufficient to encompass the wrist of the wearer. This may be achieved by presetting the apparatus so that bracelets of a uniform length are issued from the apparatus or by controlling the input of information to the bracelet in such a manner that the means for translating the bracelet strip can cause a variance in the length of the bracelet to adapt it, for instance, to the wrist of a child rather than an adult.
Another object of my invention is the provision of a bracelet capable of instantaneous use after issuance from the aforesaid apparatus, said bracelet having all of the necessary information imparted thereto and incorporating fastener means which is capable of immediate adherence to the adjacent surface of a cooperating extremity of said bracelet, said fastening means being constituted by a suitable adhesive.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the following specification and the accompanying drawings.